Alex Mercer
My name is Alex Mercer. I'm the reason for all this. They call me a killer, a monster, a terrorist... I am all of these things. - Alex Mercer ''---- Spoiler Warning, Major plot information appears below.'' Prototype follows the story of Alex Mercer, an amnesia-stricken man with superhuman abilities. As the game begins, Alex wakes up in a morgue with no memory of his past. After escaping, he finds himself trapped in Manhattan being pursued by the military. He soon discovers that he has the capability to consume the power of those whom he kills, taking their memories, skills, and even their appearance. With no recollection of where he came from, Alex is forced to track down those responsible for his situation and consume them in order to uncover the truth behind what has been done to him. Caught between the Blackwatch Special Forces and an ever growing virus-infected population Mercer makes contact with his sister, Dana. He also finds his girlfriend, Karen Parker. While Dana assists Mercer in locating his targets, Karen promises him a cure for his disease. In reality, Parker is working for Blackwatch and manipulates Mercer into stealing genetic material they can use to create a parasite capable of suppressing most of his powers. Blackwatch specialist Captain Cross then injects the parasite into Mercer, rendering most of his powers useless. With the help of Dr. Ragland, Mercer gains them back. As the conspiracy unfolds, with the assistance of an unidentified contact, the origins of Mercer, the Virus and Elizabeth Greene are uncovered. In 1969, the government had tested a virus codenamed BLACKLIGHT in Hope, Idaho. This virus was designed as a biological warfare agent, targeting those of a predetermined race. The virus unexpectedly mutated into something far deadlier, infecting the whole population of Hope. Elizabeth Greene was the sole survivor of the incident; her body welcomed the virus rather than die from it and it had rewritten her genetic code, along with that of her son, who was taken from her by Blackwatch and codenamed PARIAH. This inspired the government to continue research into the virus, cooperating with GENTEK corporation. When GENTEK employees with knowledge of the BLACKLIGHT Virus started to disappear, Alex Mercer, who worked for GENTEK, attempted to go underground to steal a sample of the virus as "life insurance". Eventually he was cornered by Blackwatch in Penn Station and killed on site, but not before he smashed the tube containing the virus, releasing it. By the time he was brought to the morgue, the virus had completely taken over his body and placed its genetic structure into his own, literally copying him cell by cell. The contact tells Mercer to assist the military in releasing a new biological agent, Bloodtox, underground. They hope that it will drive the virus to the surface, allowing Blackwatch to fight it directly. Elizabeth Greene, now a giant monster, comes to the surface and is killed and consumed by Mercer. He then attempts to absorb McMullen, the Head of Research and founder of GENTEK, but McMullen commits suicide before Mercer has the chance. It becomes apparent that the government is prepared to nuke Manhattan to destroy the virus. The contact, revealed to be Captain Cross, then guides Mercer to consume Colonel Taggart, who is attempting to flee the city, as means of getting onto the USS Ronald Reagan where the bomb is being held. Cross betrays Mercer once on the ship, and is revealed to be the Supreme Hunter, an Infected monster spawned from Elizabeth. Cross is not Elizabeth Green's son as it is widely believed, but rather a human who was consumed by the Supreme Hunter after it had been beaten by Alex. It battles Mercer on the deck of the Reagan and is subsequently decapitated by Mercer. Mercer takes the nuclear bomb into the Atlantic Ocean, causing it to detonate underwater, but catching Mercer in the blast. However, he regenerates from a crow and muses on the consequences of his actions, as well as his realization that he has become something both more and less than human, referring to how he became superhuman at the cost of his humanity. After the credits, Manhattan is seen in a recovering state, with the virus almost completely destroyed, and Alex atop the Empire State Building and speaking the words, "my work is almost done". The Virus Alex Mercer died while carrying a small sample of the BLACKLIGHT Virus he took from GENTEK, using it as "insurance" so he would not go missing like other GENTEK personnel with critical knowledge. He was cornered by the military at Penn Station, and in one last effort to take revenge on GENTEK, and seemingly the world, he breaks the virus vial releasing it into New York. Immediatley after, the Blackwatch troops killed Alex with small-arms fire. The virus infected Alex's corpse, reanimating his body in the process, using his cells to preserve its existence and creating a new entity with inhuman and assimilation abilities. Thinking Alex is dead, the military takes Alex's body to the morgue in the basement of GENTEK, where the virus awakens. Literally, Alex Mercer is no more, he is the BLACKLIGHT Virus, which is the reason why the military does not call him by Alex's name; instead they gave him the codename of ZEUS. The irony in all this is that while ZEUS, the virus, is the hero of the story, the actual Alex Mercer was the villain as he was the one who unleashed the virus without any regard for New York City and the world, and while ZEUS vowed to seek revenge on those who were responsible for making him this way, the one person ultimately responsible was Alex Mercer himself. ''---- Spoiler ends.'' Powers Superhuman Abilities Alex's most obvious powers are his superhuman abilities. He has superhuman strength which allows him to lifts cars and helicopters and throw them with casual ease, as well punching through enemies - he has been seen ripping an ordinary citizen in two, albeit with the help of biomass. Alex is extraordinarily fast, agile and strong. He is capable of running around 100 miles per hour, running up and across the sides of buildings, and can jump hundreds of meters. Alex is also capable of gliding, and maintaining a running state no matter what obstacles he is confronted with by using what the game designers call adaptive parkour, although what he does is beyond the limits of normal human means - whilst performing a somersault he can pick up a car, jump, then pivot around and hurl it at an enemy. Finally, Alex has durability rivaling that of armored vehicles, given the fact that he can even survive direct hits from missiles. Offensive Powers Alex can form his biomass into a variety of weapons, mostly stabbing or crushing tools. In combat, he either uses biomass to augment his strength or create various blades and clubs. Defensive Powers Alex can use two defensive powers, guarding him against enemy attacks and weapons. Alex has two forms of defense, the Armor, and the Shield. Disguise Power Everyone Alex consumes can be used to disguise Alex, evading the military as a civilian disguise and evading / surprise attacking in a military disguise. Trivia *Alex is known by and is referred to by many different names, including Dr. Alexander J. Mercer, Alex, Codename: ZEUS, and the BLACKLIGHT Virus. *General Randall regards Alex as an "it", and became irritated when Captain Cross described Alex as a "he". *In the beta of Prototype, Alex was depicted with a grey bubble jacket and white hoodie. He was later changed as to differ from Altair from the game, Assassin's Creed. *It is mentioned in a bio for Alex, located on the official Prototype website, that he has blue eyes and brown hair, although ingame his eyes appear silver. While some people may easily notice his eyes and their color, the hoodie he wears makes it nearly impossible to see his hair. His bio also states that he is five feet and ten inches (5'10"), weighs 190 pounds in completely human form, and is twenty-nine years old. *His official bio also states his "personality traits" which are: distant, predatory, super-intelligent, terrifying, vengeful, blank, and searching. *In an Web of Intrigue memory, it is revealed that Alex is the first and only male Runner in the history of the BLACKLIGHT Virus. Category:Alex Category:Characters